I was planning my flight for the following morning to the North Shore of Oahu, Haleiwa town specifically, when I got a call from Jeff McConnel. He was aboard the yacht S.S Nepenthe just then sailing into Lahaina, Maui. He knew I was trying to get this vertical photo job on Oahu done this week and wondered if I was flying the next day hoping he could catch a ride home. I would be I told him, and he told me he was going to be sailing in the morning along the north coast of Molokai.
Hmm...let's talk in the morning then, maybe we could meet up somewhere and get some photos of you sailing on this boat. As I prep my plane for the third attempt at getting the Haleiwa job done I get a call from Jeff. He's sailing off of Kapalua, Maui heading for Molokai. I tell him if all goes well I should be done over Haleiwa by 10:00 AM and would try to meet up with him around 10:45 AM.
The weather over my site on Oahu finally turned out to be great, clear skies and light winds. I fly my nine flight lines, each five miles long, over the green fields along the georgeous North Shore of Oahu and then power up, turn southeast and head for Molokai. Checking my phone I see that Jeff has texted me he is 6 miles south of Kaulapapa, the leper colony of Father Damien
As I cross the Kaiwi Channel I can see the 3,000 foot tall cliffs rising from the sea along Molokai's north shore coming into view. Searching the sea in the distance below me I spot a bright white sail skipping across the blue oceans surface.
I reduce power, push the nose over and start a rapid circling decent and begin shooting photos of this beautiful boat sailing below the tallest sea cliffs in the world.
I fly at 2,000' to capture shots of the Nepenthe and the cliffs beyond and then pull back the power to try to drop down and get some close up photos of this boat.
The Nepenthe is a beautiful 79' long sailboat owned by Quentin Kawananakoa, a direct decendant of the royal family of the Hawai'ian Kingdom. As I drop down to 300' above the sea I grab a shot of Quentin, of Hawaiian Ali'i lineage, sailing off the cliffs of Molokai enroute from Hawai'i Island to Oahu as he grabbed a pole just after a Mahi Mahi hooked up and then landing a beautiful fish.
Me, flying my plane above, my good friend Jeff at the helm of a legendary sailboat below, while a son of Hawai'ian royalty lands a fish in the shadow of the magnificent towering cliffs of Molokai! I must admit it was a meaningful moment.
I am having the time of my life, flying alone along the majestic cliffs of Molokai on a pristine day with a beautiful sailboat below me, doing what I love to do, taking photographs.
Eventually I drop down to the deck (is the top of their mast above me, am I that low?) and do a low level flyby of my friends on the Nepenthe, wagging my wings left and right in a salute of aloha as I prepare to head home.
But before heading south I fly a series of tracks allowing me to shoot several stunning multi photo panoramas of this wonderful coastline. I am getting ready to fly farther east for a different shot of those cliffs when I glance at my fuel gages and see that I have a buck thirty (an hour and a half) left in the tanks. A quick mental math run tells me if I turn SE toward Hawai'i now I'll burn a buck ten leaving me twenty minutes of fuel in reserve...if all goes well.
But when does all go well? I think. I make a quick turn towards Kaulapapa and grab a couple of final shots before pulling back on the yoke and swinging the nose around to the southeast and home.
I level off at 7,500' and set my course for home. As long as nothing stupid happens I'll be on the ground in Kona in an hour. As I set into the boring enroute routine of flying, calling ATC, watching for traffic, monitoring fuel consumption and staying on course, I reflect on what a magical flight I have just had and can't wait to get home and see the photos!
A good day to be a pilot, a good day to be a photographer and as always a good day day to live Hawai'i!
Brian
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